L.T. Hines, his wife, Joy, and niece, Kim Getz, revisit memories at the family home. Kim inherited the
home from her mother, Melba Hines Neville, and lives there now.
LUKE HINES developed
his business philos-ophy
by trial and
error. He expanded
Hines Seafood to Carolina
Beach and built a seafood
business on Oleander Drive
near the Independence Mall
area, but the businesses did not
fare as well as his Wrightsville
Beach location.
L.T. says his father’s business
philosophy was simple: “He
told me, ‘Son, always decide
to do one thing and do it well.
Don’t try to get too big.’”
Kim Getz, Luke Hines’s
granddaughter, says the story
of how the Hineses came to
own the property provides a
glimpse into how land deals
were based on a handshake and
a person’s good word.
“He bought that, where the
beer and wine shop and the
former kayak business was,”
Kim said in 2008. “He wanted
that, and the man he was going
to buy it from said he could
have all three lots for $1,000.
My granddaddy said, ‘Can you
give me a year to pay it?’ and
the man said, ‘Yes.’”
Luke built the family
A-frame house on Seacrest
Drive, where property was
created from the dredging of
the Intracoastal Waterway. The
home has been passed down
through the generations, and
Kim lives there today.
Luke Hines’s way of doing
business is a remnant of a
different era, says L.T. “It was
all done on a handshake. I think
the lawyer, all he did was draw
up the (sale) agreement.”
Until health inspectors
required Luke Hines to
prepare his seafood on-site,
the Hines family cooked their
shrimp the way they had for
generations.
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WBM august 2020 ALLISON POTTER